Hydraulic systems are often used to drive motors operatively connected to high inertial load rotary components. Maintaining a relatively constant rotational speed is desirable but often problematic due to a variety of factors including imbalances within the rotary components and tolerances between drive components.
Attempts have been made to maintain a constant rotational speed by controlling the flow rate of the hydraulic fluid used to power the hydraulic motor of a system. In some instances, such flow rate control has proven unsuccessful, resulting in inconsistent or unstable rotational operation and pressure spikes caused in part by the high inertial load. The inconsistent or unstable rotational operation often results in a repeating pattern in which the rotating component speeds up and slows down. Such repeating pattern is sometimes referred to as “loping,” and the frequency of the loping can be dependent on the rotational rate of the rotary component.
An example of rotary component having a high inertial load is a reel of a combine harvester. The reel assists in moving harvested material from one location to another within the material processing chain or path of the combine. As the reel contacts crops and/or the ground during the harvesting process, the reel typically encounters inconsistent or non-uniform loads which can further cause inconsistent rotation or loping of the reel. When harvesting some crops, inconsistent rotation or loping of the reel may result in the harvested material being misdirected out of the material processing path or damage to the material. In either case, the loping of the reel reduces the output of the harvesting process and thus the process efficiency.
It will be appreciated that this background description has been created by the inventor to aid the reader, and is not to be taken as an indication that any of the indicated problems were themselves appreciated in the art. While the described principles can, in some aspects and embodiments, alleviate the problems inherent in other systems, it will be appreciated that the scope of the protected innovation is defined by the attached claims, and not by the ability of any disclosed feature to solve any specific problem noted herein.